Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

There is now an office of emergency planning under the Department of Defence, which was not there heretofore and which feeds into all agencies and groups. In addition, the taskforce on emergency planning also feeds into that group. Under the aegis of my own Department, there is a group to which I referred earlier, including the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Defence, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. There is a cross-link between both groups — one is advisory and the other deals with specific matters that arise.

As Deputy Kenny knows, considerable capital resources have been put into the Department of Defence over the past five Estimates to update equipment, as well as providing additional training skills and expertise. I cannot answer precisely what all those projects are; it is a matter for the Minister for Defence. I know from the Chief of Staff, however, that the Defence Forces have been engaged actively through those units. In particular, our rangers are highly thought of in the United Nations. They were asked to work on the Indonesian border during the difficulties in East Timor. They are highly skilled and their equipment has been improved dramatically.

There is considerable co-operation on the movement of people associated with al-Qaeda. While I am not briefed on these issues weekly, I am aware of the intelligence work by the Garda Síochána, and externally, on a number of individuals. Considerable effort, both by the Garda Síochána and the Army, has been put into Middle Eastern groups operating both here and elsewhere. There are not significant numbers involved but security-wise a substantial effort goes into that now.

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